Portable directional devices such as arrows, signs, flash lights, signal lights, wands, strobes, or the like are often used to control the flow of traffic. They are essential safety devices when used to direct traffic during emergency situations which require police or medical assistance, or the like.
However, emergency situations can develop quickly, and often require trained personnel to perform multiple tasks such as triage, interviews, medical assistance, or the like, in addition to traffic control. Therefore directional devices that must be hand held for proper use can unnecessarily tie up essential personnel, or waste precious time. A typical version of a prior art directional device with this type of problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,679. This prior art invention describes a traffic director's stick which performs multiple functions, but must always be operated by hand.
Further many directional devices such as signs, or arrows mounted on signs, are not compact enough to be carried as standard equipment in most emergency vehicles. Therefore they often are transported to the scene of an emergency long after the initial trained personnel have arrived. This also wastes time and puts essential personnel at unnecessary risk.
Additionally, portable directional devices must be capable of being used in a variety of different weather conditions, and at any time during the day or night. Such portable directional devices often require lighting to be seen properly. In order to power the lighting and preserve portability, batteries are most often used. However, batteries will run out and have to be replaced or recharged, which again takes more time, can put personnel at risk, and costs money.
It is also very desirable that portable directional devices come in more than one high-visibility color. This enables them to be easily seen during the day, and to communicate different signals, such as "stop" or "caution", to the on coming traffic. However, this often results in the need for multiple directional devices, which can take up unnecessary storage space and cost.